Leap year puts calendar in sync with earth’s orbit

If you’re a little confused in looking at the calendar, it’s no mistake that February has 29 days this year.

It’s leap year, and every four years February has an extra day — even with an extra day, it’s still the shortest month of the year.

If you’re of a certain age, you probably remember the poem:

“Thirty days has September, April, June and November. All the rest have 31, except February, which alone has 28. But leap year, coming once in four, February then has one day more.”

Actually, they used to teach that rhyme to kids in school.

The shortest way that I’ve found to explain leap year is in a Pottsville Republican article on Leap Day, Feb. 29, 1996.

Here’s what it said:

“Leap year is the Gregorian calendar’s way of keeping track of the earth’s annual orbit around the sun. A calendar year is 365 days, while the actual earth orbiting time is closer to 365¼ days. Thus, every four years, a day is added to make up for lost time.”

The amazing thing is that Roman astronomers under Julius Caesar in 46 B.C. figured out that the solar year was 365 days and six hours long.

That’s incredible, how’d they do that?

So, what’s the big deal?

Well, if the calendar was not coordinated with the earth’s orbit, over time there’d be a disconnect between the actual arrival of the seasons and what it says on the calendar.

Needless to say, the complexity has led to some interesting situations over the years, indeed, centuries.

Kids born on Leap Day, technically, only have a birthday every four years. If they want to have some fun, they tell their friends that they’re only 2 years old, when in fact they’re 8.

The question of when to celebrate the birthday — Feb. 28 or March 1 — actually led to a mandate from King Henry III of England in the year 1236. His majesty dictated that Feb. 28 is the official birthday of Leap Year babies in off years. I doubt anybody abides by it nine centuries later.

One of the strangest variations involves what Margaret, Queen of Scotland, did in the year 1288.

Margaret ordained that any young man, neither wed or betrothed, who rejected an offer of marriage from a maiden lady on Leap Day should be fined one pound or less, according to his means.

The ordinance was only on the books for a few years, but long enough for France to enact similar legislation.

There are a few somewhat similar examples in American culture.

In the 1950s, it was common for the band to announce a “Lady’s choice” at dances. It meant a young woman could ask a young man to dance, and he couldn’t refuse.

Cartoonist Al Capp introduced Sadie Hawkins Day into the comic strip “L’il Abner” in 1937. A race of eligible bachelors was held and if Sadie caught one of them they were obligated to marry her.

In a 1956 Editorial Musings column, Frank Toomey put an Irish twist on the issue.

As the story goes, St. Patrick and St. Bridget were walking along the shores of Lough Neagh. She allegedly told him that, where she was in charge, ladies were demanding the right to march down the aisle with the man of their choice.

A sympathetic St. Patrick, the story goes, allowed women to select a husband in Leap Year.

“It was considered proper, in fact today, there’s nothing wrong with the gal doing the proposing,” Toomey wrote.